Hear them Bengals growlin, mean and angry...

WOW. So it's been a while. Glad to be back. Thank you for your warm welcome.

Please, please, be seated. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Well, I'm back. It seems as though the sports world has once again provoked my interest in writing. Funny how this weird interest of mine corresponds to one of my favorite teams beginning a new season (see my first post about the Reds). Let's hope that my teams do better than the Reds. I've learned my lesson. I think.

In light of how much is going on now, I've decided to expand my sports interest (well, writing) beyond the Reds, Bengals, and Cards. I will make my broad observations about sports as whole. I hope this makes my blog more universally appealing. I will, however, point out that at no time, ever, will the school that I now live nearby be mentioned as the subject of a post (unless it's to call out how ridiculous their fans are). I don't like UK. The one thing I like about UK is the fact that they are educating the one that I hope will support me one day (as in 5 years from now, when I retire). Otherwise, nothing good can be said. I went to the University of Louisville. Deal with it.

In addition to a (hopefully) weekly post, I will be making NFL picks this year, mostly just to see how bad I am at them. I won't be picking against the spread, I'll just be giving the winners, and maybe a short explanation as to why I think a particular team might lose to the Bengals that week. By the way, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced today that the Ultra Bowl will no longer be played. His reason was that the Bengals just end up dominating every team they play anyway, so he went ahead and crowned them Undefeated Champions of Life.

So I think that a nice topic for my glorius return would be a recap of the summer that was in the world of sports.

-The Reds looked promising (as usual) then quickly faded into the bottom of the NL. I don't think the leadership of this club knows what they are doing. At least there is plenty of young talent there to be optimistic about the future (I sound like a broken record).

-Griffey and Dunn got traded. Many people were mad. Many were happy. I...well, I don't really know how I feel about it. Griffey being traded was a long time coming. The Reds weren't going to pick up his option for next year anyway, so might as well get something in return. I'm happy for Dunn and Griffey. They are getting the chance to play for a playoff team. And I will be rooting for them as the season wraps up.

-The Olympics. I've got to say, I actually cared about the Olympics this time around. It was cool. It provided nightly entertainment for 2 weeks. And the American athletes were pretty impressive to watch, especially in 2 sports (which I'm sure you can guess). Swimming was legitimately entertaining. Weird, I know. But watching Michael Phelps do everything from dominate the field to make a last second (well, hundreth of a second) comeback was amazing. I'm not going to lie. I got chills when the relay team came back in the last 50 meters to beat the French team. Their excitement was fun to watch. The second was the men's basketball. I've never seen a team of superstars play like this. Coach K did a phenomenal job of bringing this team together, getting them focused, and playing great defense. I believe that this only solidifies coach K as one of the great basketball minds and coaches of our generation (sorry UK fans, you know it's true).

-The Cubs blew the doors off the NL this summer. Then September came along, and they decided that they were the lovable Cubs who weren't ever gonna get to a World Series. They are falling apart faster than you can say "curse" (or goat). Many of their players are slumping or injured. Lou Pinella's teams have a way of doing this late in the season (with the exception of that fabled wire-to-wire season in which he helped bring a title to Cincinnati). Not to say that the Cubs aren't gonna make the playoffs, because they will. They just won't make it past the first round. Plus, Cubs fans are lame, and bandwagon. If I was from Chicago, I'd be a Sox fan. They are the only ones from Chicago that actually appreciate baseball.

-The NBA Finals. Wait. Does anyone actually care? No? I didn't think so. Who won anyway?

Okay. Enough of the past. Let's move on to the future, like what will happen this weekend across the NFL. Here is my first attempt at the NFL picks (home team in CAPS).

Games Currently Underway
-GIANTS over Redskins. The Giants currently lead 17-6 with 2:00 left in the 4th quarter and the Giants have the ball. I think I'm gonna get this one right.

Games I Care Nothing About
-PATRIOTS over Chiefs. Apparently, Tom Brady's good looks can't win his team Super Bowls anymore, but I think the Chiefs will still be drooling. I'm taking the Pats.

-Jags over TITANS. See the title of this section. I have nothing to say.

-Lions over FALCONS.

-EAGLES over Rams

-SAINTS over Bucs.

-CHARGERS over Panthers. Sean Merriman's knee will fall off, to no surprise of 4 doctos.

-Cardinals over 49ERS. Toilet bowl. Plus the 49ers have a Irish quarterback named O'Sullivan. He'll probably have a flask hidden somewhere in his jersey. There's a reason he was a 3rd string quarterback for the Lions last year.

-COLTS over Bears. Kyle Orton gets that frustrated look on his face when he throws interceptions, and it's quite funny.

-Vikings over PACKERS. The Vikings are a sleeper team this year. Adrian Petersen is good.

-Broncos over RAIDERS.

Games I'll Check the Score of
-Jets over DOLPHINS. This is interesting. Brett Favre (God knows ESPN will be eating this up) takes on former Jets QB Chad Pennington.

-STEELERS over Texans. I hate the Steelers. But they will win here.

-BILLS over Seahawks. I like Buffalo. They need to win this year to keep the team from moving to LA or Toronto.

-Cowboys over BROWNS. I hate Cleavland. They are overrated. Who names their team after a person anyway?

The Bengals
-Bengals over RAVENS. Obviously. The Bengals are going 16-0, hence they will win this game. Plus, Ray Lewis will try to shoot one of the Bengals on the field, and accidentally end up killing one of his own teammates. Plus for the Bengals.

Let's see how this goes. I'm already 1-0 (just kidding, I won't count that first pick). Glad to be back. See you next week.